The present invention relates to a track roller for tracked vehicles.
Track rollers are known which are composed of a shaft on which the actual roller turns with lubricated bearings interposed therebetween.
The opposite ends of the shaft are inserted in bushes which are externally provided with expansions in which bolts engage in order to fix the bushes to a supporting frame. The shaft is prevented from rotating by diametrical pins inserted in it through the bushes.
In order to provide a tight seal in the regions between the bushes and the opposite ends of the roller, sliding-ring gaskets, i.e. gaskets each composed of a pair of metallic rings which are pressed against one another, are provided. The axial force with which the rings of each pair are pushed toward one another is determined by the elastic deformation of respective rubber rings which are accommodated in seats defined in flanges of the bushes and in the roller.
Known rollers have the disadvantage that they are rather complicated from the point of view of construction and assembly; this complication is to be ascribed to the need to provide diametrical holes in the bushes and in the shaft for the passage of the pins and to provide seals between the shaft and the bushes in order to avoid the outward leakage of the lubricating oil of the bearings.